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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Deputy PM Angela Rayner’s Ibiza DJ booth party revealed to be £836 freebie

Angela Rayner’s DJ booth party in an Ibiza superclub was a £836 freebie from a donor, it has emerged.

The deputy PM was filmed dancing with a DJ and being cheered on by a crowd at a party on the Spanish island in August at superclub Hi Ibiza.

An entry on the MPs’ register on interests published on Wednesday revealed the “visit to (a) DJ booth" was paid for by Ayita LLC, the agent of DJ Fisher, who she was filmed dancing with.

However, Ms Rayner is said to have paid for flights and accommodation herself during the four-day visit to the party island.

It comes amid a row over ministerial donations, with senior Labour figures being criticised for taking tens of thousands of freebies from wealthy donors.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid back more than £6,000 in gifts and hospitality he received since entering Downing Street as he sought to quell the backlash.

He repaid the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has received gifts from Lord Alli (PA Wire)

Number Ten on Wednesday vowed to overhaul hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.

"Ahead of the publication of the new code, the Prime Minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members' interests."

Gifts paid for by Sir Keir include four Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group totalling £2,800, two from the Football Association at a cost of £598, and four to Doncaster Races from Arena Racing Corporation at £1,939.

An £839 clothing rental agreement with Edeline Lee, the designer recently worn by his wife to London Fashion Week, along with one hour of hair and makeup, was also covered by the Prime Minister.

But the row continued to deepen on Wednesday after it was revealed Labour peer and backer Waheed Alli was under investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog over an alleged failure to register interests.

The probe threatens to overshadow the Prime Minister's trip to Brussels, where he was meeting EU figures as part of his bid to "reset" Britain's relations with Europe.

Sir Keir told reporters it was "right" for him to repay the cost of some gifts.

However, Sir Keir also accepted a further £6,134 in "clothing and personal support" for Lady Starmer in June from Lord Alli, according to the latest register of interests, which is likely to provoke further scrutiny.

The Prime Minister also took £920 from Tottenham Hotspur stadium for two tickets to the north London derby in September, and £1,000 from Arsenal FC for a game in August, according to the register.

He has previously defended his decision to accept hospitality in order to attend football matches, citing security concerns which prevent him from watching from the stands without a large and expensive police presence.

The register also revealed Tory leadership hopefuls accepted tens of thousands of pounds worth of donations as they pitch to succeed Rishi Sunak, including almost £135,000 registered by frontrunner Robert Jenrick since August.

£152,000 in donations was register by Tom Tugendhat, £89,000 by James Cleverly and £40,000 by Kemi Badenoch from various backers.

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